CPBRD Flags DPWH Budget Hike Amid Efficiency Decline, Corruption Allegations

MANILA. Philippines — The Congressional Policy and Budget Research Department (CPBRD) flagged the Department of Public Works and Highways’ (DPWH) deteriorating spending efficiency, saying further increases in its budget warrant serious reconsideration as unused appropriations reached nearly three times its proposed funding increase for 2027. In its latest Agency Budget Notes, the CPBRD said the DPWH left P303.6 billion in unused appropriations in 2025, nearly three times the P113-billion increase proposed for its 2027 budget. READ: Dizon: DPWH 2027 budget rid of ‘duplicate projects’ The DPWH’s proposed expenditure program for 2027 stands at P643.9 billion, up 21.3 percent from P530.9 billion in 2026. “The agency’s disbursement rates have steadily declined in FY (fiscal year) 2023 (60.5%), FY 2024 (53.3%), and FY 2025 (35.6%). This deterioration has correspondingly increased unused appropriations: P93.9 billion in 2023, P167.3 billion in 2024, and P303.6 billion in 2025,” the CPBRD said. This means the DPWH managed to disburse only about P0.35 for every P1 appropriated to it in 2025, compared with roughly P0.61 two years earlier. “This marked decline in spending efficiency, compounded by systemic corruption within the Department, warrants serious reconsideration of whether budget increases for the DPWH are justified,” the CPBRD said. “Rather than additional allocations, improvements in spending efficiency could themselves generate the financial resources implied in the agency’s budget proposal,” it added. Already, all eyes are still on the DPWH budget as it grapples with the lingering fallout from the flood control corruption scandal, which has since markedly slowed disbursements and dragged economic growth to just 2.6 percent from January to June. As it is, infrastructure spending remained in a major slump in the first half of 2026, falling 40.8 percent to P367.4 billion during the period amid tighter oversight of DPWH projects. The CPBRD likewise flagged the Flood Management Program (FMP), which posted the highest disbursement rate among the DPWH’s major programs but remains the agency’s most controversial. READ: DPWH aims to rationalize ‘Luzon-centric’ infrastructure budget “Revelations regarding the corruption and misappropriation of these funds place the disbursement rate in a different light,” CPBRD said. “Had the President not exposed the corruption in flood-control projects, one can argue that the disbursement rates for the FMP could be even higher—but with an even greater loss of funds to fraudulent activities,” it added. Flood control funds were allotted P107.4 billion for next year, the lowest allocation for the program since 2019. Budget Secretary Kim Robert de Leon has since defended the allocation despite the flood control scandal that has hounded the DPWH. INQ